The invention relates to a collecting bag for human-body wastes comprising a bag member formed by two film blanks with joined edges, an inlet opening provided in one of said film blanks, connecting elements surrounding said inlet opening for connection of the bag to a body orifice, a narrowed, elongated discharge portion starting at a proximal end at a distance from the inlet opening and extending between two end sections of said film blanks to a distal end, a discharge opening formed in said discharge portion in the vicinity of said distal end, said discharge portion being foldable and unfoldable by at least one folding in a longitudinal direction thereof between said distal and proximal ends to bring the discharge portion from an open unfolded condition to a closed folded condition and vice versa, and a locking device being provided at the discharge portion for locking the bag in said closed folded condition of the discharge portion.
This type of drainable collecting bags are often used as ostomy bags. In the case of ileostomy patients and colostomy patients with uncontrolled release of faeces of a more or less fluid consistence, the collecting bag has to be emptied rather frequently, and the closure device thus has to be easy to open and re-close after emptying and at the same time provide a reliable and tight seal in operation, ie. between emptyings.
Several different designs of closure devices have been developed and are generally known.
For instance, GB patent applications Nos. 2 268 065 and 2 000 683 disclose collecting bag with closure devices, in which strips of the interlocking-elements type, such as Velcro, are placed on each of the film blanks of the discharge portion and which after folding the discharge portion tightly are brought into contact with each other.
A further design is shown in EP patent application No. 0 013 109, in which the outlet portion is folded and subsequently tucked into a gap formed by a semi-rigid strip attached to the bag wall.
It is a disadvantage in all of the above designs that accurate and correct handling of the closure device is required in order to provide the necessary seal against leakage in the closed position of the bag. In particular the tight folding of the discharge portion and the tucking operation of the discharge portion in the latter document may cause problems, especially to users having eg. reduced dexterity.
Another type of closure device is shown in published international application No. WO96/19164, in which the discharge portion is rolled up on a locking clip fastened to one of the film blanks. The clip comprises a resilient zone which for instance may be provided as an outer layer of integral foam plastic surrounding a semi-rigid core body. Although the collecting bag and locking clip of this document provide for an improved tightness in comparison with the devices described in the above, the choice of design of the locking device is limited, as the sealing effect is dependent on the locking clip.
With this background, it is the object of the present invention to improve a collecting bag of the kind mentioned in the introduction with respect to security against leakage, easy operation and flexibility regarding the choice of closure device.
For achieving this, a collecting bag according to the invention is characterized in that at least one resilient seal member having greater rigidity than said film blanks is attached to at least one film blank of the discharge portion at or near said discharge opening to engage a contact surface of the other film blank to close the discharge opening in connection with said at least one folding.
By this design, operation of the collecting bag is facilitated as the resilient seal member or members at the discharge opening provide(s) for an efficient sealing of the discharge opening at the beginning and the end of the folding operation during closing and opening, respectively, of the bag, as the discharge opening is substantially fully sealed by the resilience of the member or members. Compared to the collecting bag of WO96/19164, the bag according to the invention offers the advantage that several types of locking devices may be used in connection with the bag.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are the object of the dependent claims.